A bill introduced in the California Legislature on Thursday would allow teenagers and preteens to get the COVID-19 vaccine without parental consent.
The proposal from state Sen. Scott Wiener, a Democrat representing San Francisco, would allow Californians 12 and older to consent to receive any vaccine approved by the Food and Drug Administration and endorsed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s panel of vaccination experts.
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“COVID is a deadly virus even for young people,” Wiener told the San Francisco Chronicle. “While teens will do better, on average, than older people, there are teens who end up in the hospital, who end up on a ventilator, who end up dead.”
S.B. 866 is the first vaccine-related bill to come out of a new legislative caucus announced earlier this week called the Vaccine Work Group, whose members aim to boost vaccination rates across the state.
“This won’t be the only bill,” Wiener said.
California overall has seen high uptake of people receiving the coronavirus vaccine. Over 72% of the eligible population, residents 5 and up, have been fully vaccinated compared to the national rate of about 67%. When broken down by age, state tracking shows that nearly 900,000 12- to 17-year-olds are unvaccinated, representing about 28% of the state’s population.
State law already gives minors the ability to obtain the human papillomavirus and hepatitis B vaccines without their parents’ OK, as well as birth control and abortions.
“We have already made this decision that we trust teenagers to make certain decisions about their bodies and their health,” Wiener said. “To allow parents to blow up a teenager’s life by refusing to get them vaccinated, that’s just wrong.”
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The bill is expected to have its first round of committee hearings in the spring. If signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, the law would go into effect on Jan. 1, 2023.